The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) in its bid to actively employ persons who were dismissed held its first-ever “Employment Drive” at the Rose Hall Estate in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) on Thursday.
Currently, there are 463 people on the roll and it is expected that by the last quarter of 2021 some 880 people will be hired. The employment figure is based on the work needed to be done for the successful and full re-opening of the second crop in October 2022.
The overall employment requirement stands at 1,844 people for the Rose Hall Estate, located in East Canje Berbice; this will see the estate in complete operation by 2022. Currently, 1,381 people need to be employed for the coming year, hence the initiative to have a recruitment drive, according to Vemen Walters, GuySuCo’s Human Resources Director (ag).
The sugar company’s Chief Executive Officer Sasenarine Singh, who was on-site Thursday, noted that the recruitment drive comes at a time when thousands of persons were thrown on the breadline after the previous administration made the decision to close several estates across the country.
An estimated 800 workers were sent home when the former APNU+AFC government closed the Rose Hall estate in December 2017.
“A job is dignity, let’s make this very clear, and this government is committed to bringing dignity to the lives of the people.” Singh said.
He added, “If you are interested in a job, once you have your medical, GuySuCo will have a discussion with regards to employing you in a role at Rose Hall Estate. We are going to make the process easy,” Singh posited.
“This is our corporate social responsibility but more importantly this is us sending the clear signal that the work plan that we have in place is working, is being implemented and we are working towards delivering on an objective that was said to us by our shareholders, which is to reopen the Rose Hall Estate as the first of the three sugar estates to be brought back to life.”
Persons who were fired from their previous positions at the estate prior to its closure, skilled, unskilled and general labourers are all eligible to take advantage of the opportunity.
Furthermore, while the employment opportunity seeks to bolster the operations of the estate, the Human Resources Director (ag) noted that “…what we have to do is train these people (who may not have the requisite skillset) and that is why we will employ them as a porter/cleaner, however, we are going to train them, we are going to develop them to make them craftsmen to make them fitter machinist to make them welders, electricians, we are going to utilise our training centre at Port Mourant to facilitate these training.”
The recruitment exercise commenced at 06:30hrs, with approximately 30 people in the line; later over 60 people were sent for medical examinations and it is expected that by the conclusion of the day, they will be hired.
Work commences on Monday, Walters said, but for individuals filling the spots of fitter machinist, electricians and clerical personnel, they will undergo a trade and pre-employment test.
Walters added that their expectation is to employ in excess of 100 persons Thursday, but “if we can have 300, we will employ them.”
